Aurra Sing is hired by two Quarren brothers, Tallet and Lekket, who have a vendetta against the Dark Woman and Senator Tikkes. It just so happens that the Dark Woman is on an unnamed planet in the Kamdon sytem, the same system where the planet Talas, where Aurra came to meet her potential employers, is located. Furthermore, the two Quarren refugees have arranged for Tikkes to come to the Dark Woman's sanctuary the very next day. Aurra accepts the job, and as she leaves Talas the Jedi team of Ki-Adi Mundi, A'Sharad Hett and Adi Gallia, in charge of capturing her after her recent Jedi murders on Coruscant, pick up her trail. But as the Jedi train their torpedoes on her ship, Aurra tricks them by flying out in a fighter craft and attacks their unshielded read causing the Jedi's cruiser to explode.

[final cover]

[preview cover]

THE STORY

First off, I really like that Dark Horse finally added a "The story so far..." summary on the inside front cover. Second of all, I really love all this Aurra Sing exposure and it feels like Truman is trying to expose her many talents and abilities and cool possessions while he has a chance. The opening scene is a fight against modified Droidekas on Talas, which the two Quarren fugitives claim to use against her as a test of her skills. This is a very good excuse for an action scene and it would feel cheap if not handled by such a talented writer. When Aurra Sing doesn't kill the duo, they proceed to explain their backstory and motivations (told in flashback) which also explains the reason why they need to hire her. Their story is a pretty cool one, and is linked to another minor character from The Phantom Menace, the Quarren Senator Tikkes.

Apparently egg-mates Tallet and Lekket were once prosperous on their native world of Mon Calamari, and Tikkes was a partner in theur engine factory business. When Tikkes ran for senatorial position he started siphoning funds from their entreprise and before they could expose him, Tikkes turned the Republic against them for a past transgression. Republic Guards led by the Dark Woman attacked their factory and the two managed to escape the planet but not before Tallet was badly burned by toxic fuels. Using some hidden funds, they purchased Talas where they have hidden ever since. They have been plotting revenge for a long time until they recently discovered the identity of the Jedi who led the attack on them. Now they decided to hire the best "Jedi killer" to take their revenge, and at the same time get rid of the treacherous Senator who started all of their troubles. The fact that the Dark Woman used to be Aurra's teacher is just an added bonus for her, so of course she accepts the job, not even asking for advance payment.

As she leaves the planet in her modified Corellian Corvette, a Consular-class Republic cruiser picks up her tail. It is of course commanded by the Jedi who volunteered to bring Aurra to justice after her assassination of two Jedi Masters last issue. But for experienced Jedi, they get pretty easily tricked as Aurra sneaks up on their rear with her starfighter and blows up the Jedi's ship. There's a moment of suspense where Ki-Adi says "Have to eject! Have to..." then the ship explodes, but of course we all know they will somehow get out. This, and the fact that the Dark Woman decided to unknowingly go to the same system where Tallet and Lekket are plotting revenge against her would seem like pretty convenient plot devices. But since it is told in such an entertaining way such details are not too important.

THE ART

Fabbri gets to illustrate some of Aurra's cool toys: her personal starship, her small fighter craft, and her collection of lightsabers. This is like creating Boba Fett's Slave I for the first time. Of course we also get to see her in action against a trio of Droidekas, who have a long blade replacing one of their blasters but no shields. That scene is pretty well handled, as Aurra jumps around, deflects blaster bolts, and even uses Force lightning and push to destroy the droids. The ravaged body of Tallet is pretty well done too, very distinct from the healthy skin of Lekket. And of course the cover is, again, amazing.